Rayne prepping for pass-happy Leesville in rematch

Fifteen local teams made it to the second round of the LHSAA state football playoffs. Kevin Foote and James Bewers look at the upcoming games and place their bets on local favorites, underdogs, and which games could go either way.
Caitlin Jacob

He didn’t want to go as far as to say Leesville, a team the Wolves beat 28-18 on Sept. 29, is a completely different team than it was seven weeks ago. But he can confidentially say the Wampus Cats are a much-improved team, and that’s partially due to being healthier.

“They’ve gotten a few guys back, and they’re hitting on all cylinders, I believe,” McCoy said. “The quarterback (Chris Vargas) is playing a lot better. The key guys that they had when we played them, they’re complemented now by a few extra guys on the outside that can really get up and go. So I believe they’re an even better team than what we saw a few weeks ago.”

Despite the 10-point win in September, there isn’t any reason for 11th-seeded Rayne to overlook sixth-seeded Leesville when the two teams meet in the second round of the Class 4A playoff. In the previous meeting, Vargas completed 25 of 47 passes for 362 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

“He looks a lot more confident on film to me,” McCoy said.

Receiver McKenzie Jackson hauled in 10 of Vargas’ completions for 172 yards and a touchdown, while Andrew Croker caught eight balls for 139 yards and a score.

The high number of passing attempts by Leesville was partially due to a huge halftime deficit. Rayne jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the second quarter and led 28-6 half, but they were outscored 12-0 in the second half. The Wampus Cats out-gained the Wolves 522-326.

But Rayne also played that game without defensive backs Johnny Deculit and Darien Harmon, both of whom are also a part of the backfield rotation. Either player could see more time on defense in the rematch against Leesville, as cornerback Zach Fontenot is out with an injury.

“That kind of put us in a bind last week (against Helen Cox),” McCoy said of losing Fontenot. “We’re definitely focused a lot more on just trying to do some different things to stop what that they do through the air and just progress.

"We’ve gotten progressively better throughout the last three weeks, not where we need to be, but we’ve definitely emphasized it this week — discipline, being good with our eyes, being where we’re supposed to be and communicating.”

McCoy said no personnel changes needed to be made in the secondary for Rayne to improve against the pass. It all came down to mental maturation by defensive backs in recent weeks.

“We just had to get guys to understand the philosophy of the defense and being where we needed to be and reading who they needed to read,” McCoy said. “I don’t think it was necessarily a personnel change, but we just had to emphasize day in and day out what we’re trying to do.”